What's behind Blocus: the anonymous group that encouraged the Barcelona riots and wants to take its extreme violence throughout Spain

The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating who is behind the protest that this Saturday led to violent riots in Barcelona and which was called through social networks by the anonymous platform Blocus, which called for the mobilizations in France for the "dignity of the institutes" to be replicated in large Spanish cities.

The chief commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Silvi Catà, explained this Sunday on the 3Catinfo radio station that, in collaboration with other European police forces, work is already being done to "monitor" the dissemination of the call, which mainly took flight through TikTok, a network widely used by minors.

The call came from Blocus, an anonymous group that called to demonstrate not only in Barcelona, ​​but also in other large cities in Spain, including Madrid, for the "quality of the institute", a motto inspired by the "Lycées Indignés" movement that for weeks has led student protests in France, which have also led in some cases to violent incidents.

"More resources, better facilities, sufficient teachers, quality education," read the call, which encouraged people to go out "like in France." The platform included a QR code to join Telegram or WhatsApp groups in which instructions were given on how to participate in the protest: in black, with the face covered and, if possible, with pyrotechnic material.

The main dissemination of the call was made, since the middle of last week, through anonymous Tiktok profiles, which the Catalan police are already analyzing, although other social networks are also being investigated in which the call multiplied, until it jumped to open WhatsApp groups.

Following the latest events in Barcelona, ​​Blocus has already deleted the account it had on the TikTok social network, along with all the exposed content. The Catalan police are now trying to outline the profile of the rioters, not only of the 128 detainees - of which 72 are minors - but also of the nearly 450 people that the agents identified this Saturday in the device set up to stop the incidents.

Silvia Catà herself has admitted that they were surprised by her "extreme violence." In any case, these are "very young" people, according to Catà, some of them adolescents under 14 years of age - and, therefore, unimpeachable - who group together with the clear purpose of "committing criminal acts", without the intention of vindicating or claiming rights, but rather of "reflecting on the events that are happening in France."

These are not criminal groups, the commissioner added, but rather "individual people who get together", in groups of three, five or ten people, to cause damage in the streets or looting in businesses.

The Blocus call also had an impact in Madrid, although according to the chief commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra, it did not lead to the serious incidents that occurred in Barcelona. In the Catalan capital, the protest event was in the same Plaza Cataluña where the camp for the right to decent housing has been set up for a month, a group that has distanced itself from this Saturday's rally.

The mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, has also disassociated them from the riots. In fact, the campers closed the accesses to prevent those causing the disturbances from entering the area where they are holding their protest and, on the contrary, they sheltered families who had been trapped in the fray between the Mossos d'Esquadra and the rioters.

Call this Sunday in Girona and Granollers

Apart from Barcelona or Madrid, the platform tries to take the unrest to other points. For now, other violent rallies are planned for this Sunday. In Girona, a poster shared on TikTok in which it is stated that students are tired of not being heard calls for a rally at 7:00 p.m. in Plaza de la Independencia.